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Antron Brown

This weekend I had a little problem with my brakes, and my car kept rolling on me a little bit,” said Brown. “I kept pulling the lever back, and it kept rolling a little bit, but I didn’t let that disturb me. That made it pop some real good reaction times this weekend, so it made me look like I was doing good.

“In the final round, we were racing Alan Johnson, Tony Schumacher, and the whole Army team over there, and they’re five-time world champions, so you have to give it everything you’ve got. As soon as I saw that thing just flicker yellow, I hit the pedal as quick as I could, and that thing took off and was going down Broadway; I didn’t feel any hiccups on the racetrack, so I knew it was on a good pass. I didn’t see Tony, but I heard him, so I knew he was right there. I was like, ‘Man, come on, come on.’ I went through the traps, saw that win light on, and I just went ecstatic. I couldn’t get out of that car quick enough. It just felt fantastic.”

Brown’s 4.53 in the final was the last of four straight 4.5-second clockings in eliminations. He ran a 4.580 to defeat Dave Grubnic in round one and followed that up with a 4.591 win over Cory McClenathan and a 4.555 victory over Bob Vandergriff Jr.

Points leader Schumacher continued his fast start to the season with his third final this year. Schumacher, who won in Pomona and Gainesville, had the dominant car in eliminations, running back-to-back 4.55s in respective wins over Morgan Lucas and Hillary Will in the first two rounds and low e.t. of the weekend, 4.511, in his defeat of Rod Fuller in the semi’s. Schumacher holds a 26-point lead over Brown.

Antron Brown

Brown advanced to the final in the Matco Tools dragster in only his fourth Top Fuel race from the No. 12 spot, the lowest starting position in his brief Top Fuel career, with four consistent runs ranging from 4.541 to 4.605. Brown survived exceptionally close races against Doug Foley and Cory McClenathan in the first two rounds before running down Doug Kalitta in the semifinals and squeaking out a narrow 4.60 to 4.62 final-round victory over Phoenix winner Larry Dixon by a mere .0044-second. Brown accomplished the feat at the home track of team owner David Powers; Brown was runner-up here to Karen Stoffer in Pro Stock Motorcycle in 2004.

“Being able to live this dream is unreal,” said Brown. “I was a little kid going to the Summernationals watching guys like [Don] Garlits, Kenny Bernstein, John Force, and Don Prudhomme, and now I have to stop and ask myself, ‘Am I really here?’

“This team has been plagued in the second round all year, but we knew we were capable of winning. We had some really close races today. The margins of victory were so tight that it felt like Pro Stock Motorcycle racing at a faster speed.”

The PSCA season opener in Las Vegas was canceled due to rain and high winds, and Mother Nature threaten to do the same last weekend at AAA Auto Club Dragway at California Speedway. The bad weather interrupted Saturday qualifying but the weather held up for Sunday's eliminations to get the first race of the season finished.

Ron Weems

Ron Weems took the win in Outlaw Street 10.5 with a 7.062 @ 195.76 on a single when Rich Zehring could not make the call.

Craig Williams

Craig Williams took the win in Limited Street with a hole shoot 9.178 @ 154.94 over Gary Brandt 8.942 @ 149.63.

Charles Jackson

Charles Jackson won the 2007 World Finals make-up final round in Mean Street over Sergio Felipe on Sunday Morning then his 10.653 @ 126.64 was runner up to Ron DeHoop's 10.635 @ 117.79 in Mean Street @ the Spring Break Shootout.

Rice becomes just the fifth woman to currently hold the position of dragstrip manager at an NHRA-sanctioned track.

Rice, who brings over 15 years of experience in drag racing, joined the Auto Club Dragway staff as an assistant in 2007. Prior to that she served in various roles within the NHRA Northwest and Pacific Divisions.

Harold Martin

He will represent the National Guard at all nine scheduled ADRL national events this year, joining Pro Extreme driver Joshua Hernandez on Team Rage.

Antron Brown

Brown looked like anything but the experienced drag racer he is in post-round interviews, excitedly telling stories of his class-leading run that pushed him past Day 1 leader Tony Schumacher.

"I'm dreaming right now," said Brown, who raced Suzukis for 10 years. "I'm afraid to go to sleep because I don't want to wake up from this. I'm just a kid from the country in Chesterfield, N.J., living the dream. This is always where I've wanted to be. It just took a long time to get here.

"Everyone keeps asking the same question: How's the transition from Pro Stock Motorcycle to Top Fuel? I'm a rookie Top Fuel driver but I'm not a rookie driver and when you have a team like this Matco Tools group around you with Lee Beard and the rest of the guys, it makes it pretty easy. It's way different from a bike because they ain't nothing on this planet that accelerates like this but I'm loving it."

Photo By Tim Marshall

This year marks the eighth consecutive year of NHRA's exclusive broadcasting partnership with ESPN. The season begins with the 48th annual CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals from Auto Club Raceway at Pomona Feb. 7-10.

Outside of races in Houston, Topeka, and Chicago, which are scheduled to air late Sunday afternoon, every NHRA POWERade Series race during the 2008 season will begin or end between 7 and 11 p.m. ET. During the last half of the season, NHRA will be featured in the same time slot, 7-10 p.m., for 10 of the final 14 races.

Additionally, the popular pre-race show that debuted in 2007, NHRA Race Day presented by Lucas Oil, will be back in 2008, once again being produced on-site to allow fans attending the Sunday race a chance to watch – and participate in – the show. It will air on Sunday race days at 11 a.m. ET on ESPN2/ESPN2HD.

In all, the network will dedicate more than 120 hours of original programming to the world's fastest, most powerful motorsport with live or same-day coverage of qualifying and the race on Sunday.

Among the highlights of NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series coverage on ESPN2 and ESPN2HD is consistent time slots on Sunday evening for the final elimination rounds, with a majority in the coveted Sunday night prime-time slot. In addition, the network will dedicate 10 hours of coverage to the world's most prestigious drag race, the 54th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at historic O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis Labor Day weekend, Aug. 27-Sept. 1.

The shows are developed by the production team at ESPN Regional Television, which has been producing NHRA programming since 2001. Paul Page returns to the broadcast booth alongside former drag racer Mike Dunn, who will provide expert analysis and insight on the racing action. Dave Rieff and Gary Gerould will return as pit reporters. Joining them at select races throughout the year will be veteran announcer John Kernan, who joined the NHRA broadcast team in 2007.

NHRA Race Day presented by Lucas Oil will be hosted again by Rieff and Dunn and originate from NHRA's Nitro Alley. NHRA Race Day presented by Lucas Oil sets up the day for fans at home with must-see matchups, interviews with the stars of the sport, racer features, news and analysis, a review of qualifying, and what to look for during the all-important Sunday action.

In addition to coverage on ESPN2 and ESPN2HD, NHRA POWERade Drag Racing will be aired on a tape-delay basis on ESPN Deportes and distributed internationally through ESPN International. ESPN2 is now available in more than 96 million households.

To read the entire document go to http://www.ci.banning.ca.us/archives/32/Jan%2028,%202008.pdf. The dragstrip information begins on page 10.

Antron Brown

The 16-time NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle winner made two consistent 4.5-second passes on Saturday at the Phoenix-area drag strip to fulfill the requirements necessary to compete in the Top Fuel category. On his opening effort, Brown traversed the right lane at F.I.R. in 4.570 seconds at 292.58 mph, and on his final pass of the day, he clocked a run of 4.582 at 296.89 in the left lane.

“I am happy and ecstatic,” Brown said. “I feel like a giddy 16-year-old who just got their driver's license. I'm getting a lot more confident in myself in understanding what's happening all the way down the race track. I know what to expect and my confidence level has really boosted.

“I feel relieved because there's a lot riding on me. We have such an all star crew starting with Lee Beard and my entire crew. They're doing a phenomenal job. I'm going to do my job to step up and do the best I can because I know we have a championship-caliber car and crew.”

With the Matco team's primary goal accomplished, Beard and crew will continue to improve the performance of the Matco Tools dragster while getting Brown acclimated in his 330-mph rail. The team may debut a new 2008 Brad Hadman chassis early next week to make some test laps on the new car. The new Hadman car features the larger diameter frame rail tubing that NHRA has mandated in 2008.

“We weren't exactly sure where we were at horsepower-wise with this new 90-percent rule on Friday,” Beard said. “The thing had numbers good enough to run in the high 4.40s. We didn't feel that we needed to push the car that hard to get Antron (Brown) his license. We're taking things one step at a time and the first step was to get his license. Now we're going to start working on the performance of the car.”

Redell Harris

Harris, a veteran two-wheel competitor, proudly announced the formation of his new team, one that features his cousin, Corey Webster, who plays cornerback for the Giants, and good friend LaRon Landry, the Redskins' free safety sensation and first-team NFL All-Rookie Defensemen.

We bought two new Buells and we are definitely looking forward to this season," said Harris, of Baton Rouge, La. "I have been an independent rider for 10 years but this is, financially, the best support I've ever had. We also have Master P, The No Limit Records and Lil' Romeo, All-Pro Sports, P Miller clothing, P Miller sportswear, Bazooka Speakers, Peterbilt of Baton Rouge, and Acura and Infinity of Baton Rouge working with our team.

"Now I have to be smart and get a good crew chief and do the best I can. I think the Buell makes me competitive immediately. I think the days of the Suzukis are very limited, at least for a heavy person. For a light person, I think it still is competitive."

Befitting their playoff status and family ties, Harris says Webster's CWeb 30 in Giants colors will be on the front of the motorcycle while the Redskins' colors are on the back with LaRon Landry Motorsports Dirty 30.

The 2008 Pro Stock Motorcycle schedule begins March 13-16 in Gainesville, Fla., allowing Harris time to fine-tune his Buell and team for the 17-race circuit.

Redell hasn't selected a rider for the second Buell, although he is looking. Already guaranteed 17 events this year, Harris' goal is a solid top 10 finish in November.

The Urban Wheel Awards ceremony is the only official event honoring African-Americans, Latinos and Asians during the North American International Auto Show.

NHRA drivers Tony Pedregon and Peggy Llewellyn joined NHRA vice president of public relations and communications, Jerry Archambeault, to accept the award on behalf of NHRA.

“On behalf of the 80,000 NHRA members, which comprise the largest and certainly one of the most influential Motorsports organizations in America, I would like to thank the Urban Wheel Awards for this recognition,” said Gary Darcy, senior vice president of sales and marketing, NHRA. “This award comes at a time when NHRA is enjoying a period of enormous popularity and increased visibility and this is yet another example of that.”

Pedregon, the defending and two-time NHRA POWERade world champion in Funny Car, is the second Hispanic driver in NHRA history to win a world championship title. Llewellyn became the first black female to win a Pro Stock Motorcycle event in 2007. She finished a career-high fourth in the championship points standings.

In addition to those drivers, NHRA features many other diverse participants, including J.R. Todd, who in 2006 became the first African-American to earn a Top Fuel victory and followed that rookie of the year effort with another outstanding season in ‘07, and fellow African-American Antron Brown, who is making the move to the 7,000 horsepower Top Fuel category in 2008 after earning 16 victories in a distinguished Pro Stock Motorcycle career. In Pro Stock, former NBA standout Tom Hammonds is a threat to win each race in his 200-mph Chevy Cobalt. In Funny Car, Pedregon’s older brother, Cruz, won the Funny Car championship in 1992, and Todd Okuhara, who tunes Gary Scelzi’s Mopar/Oakley Dodge Charger, is quickly becoming one of the category’s most well-respected crew chiefs.

“NHRA has a strong history of showcasing talent from an array of diverse backgrounds and 2007 was certainly a year for us to celebrate that position, as evidenced by Tony’s championship performance as well as Peggy’s breakthrough season,” Darcy said. “NHRA remains strongly committed to its rich heritage of providing top level racing opportunities to all people, regardless of ethnic background.”

The Urban Wheel Awards honor diversity and excellence in the automotive industry. The proceeds benefit the Edward Davis Education Foundation, providing scholarships, internships and mentoring to students pursuing a career in an automotive-related profession.

Evan Knoll

At the center of the interruption is the long-term health of Torco President and founder, Evan Knoll. Knoll, who suffered major injuries in a serious motor vehicle accident in November of 2004, has stayed at the helm of operations with Torco. Knoll has been in and out of Mayo Clinic and has also been working with several Neurologists. He continues to have in-home, state-of-the-art medical care when treatment is necessary and Knoll is currently unable to travel.

In taking a season off from the rigorous duties of being a primary sponsor and team owner of more than a dozen teams, Knoll will be able to concentrate on furthering his recovery. Additionally, the organization is hoping to plan, strategize, and regroup their team efforts throughout drag racing, thus strengthening their chances of world championships.

“We want to stress that this is only an interruption,” stated Torco CFO, Latrell Preston. “We are not selling any of our racing assets including any of our race team properties, and we will also retain all leased property in preparation for 2009. We intend to remain a leader in the racing industry. In order to achieve the success we expect, we found it necessary to take a break with our teams. This is in no way an indication of us leaving the sport. We have a long-term commitment to the fans, racers and racing industry. With Evan’s health being our main concern; the shaky oil market and world economy; and, our need to better strategize our teams, we will simply take a small step back.”

“We are definitely not leaving drag racing,” reiterated Preston . “With Evan’s health concerns, and our company’s rapid growth, we found it necessary to take some time to organize and better plan our efforts. We are keeping our primary event sponsorship in both Chicago and Richmond in NHRA, and keeping our existing series sponsorship in IHRA. This break is affecting our teams for this year only. We will be back in 2009 stronger and striving for a championship season.”